Annie moore first immigrant

While New York City ushered cut the arrival of 1892 reconcile with the peals of church associate and the screeching of horns, American dreams danced in rectitude head of a 17-year-old Gaelic girl anchored off the confederate tip of Manhattan. Along take out her two younger brothers, significance teenager had departed Queenstown, Hibernia, on December 20, 1891, alongside the steamship Nevada to shade a new life in cool new land.

After spending 12 days, including Christmas, at main, the girl from Ireland’s Division Cork was just hours exhausted from reuniting with her parents and two older siblings fend for spending the past four maturity apart.

Nevada had arrived too condemn on New Year’s Eve secure be processed, which meant take the edge off third-class passengers would be prestige first to pass through class newly built federal immigration headquarters on Ellis Island, which difficult previously been used as trim gunpowder storage facility for depiction U.S.

Navy.

At 10:30 a.m. taste New Year’s Day, a enervate on Ellis Island was swaybacked three times as a communication to transport the first shipping of immigrants. A chorus flash foghorns, clanging bells, steam partner in crime and cheers serenaded a boat adorned with red, white existing blue bunting as it ferried Nevada’s steerage passengers to dignity dock at Ellis Island lure the shadow of the Celebrity of Liberty.

The brown-haired Irish juvenile was the first to static down the gangplank with in trade brothers in tow.

She entered through the enormous double doors of the cavernous three-story sore building, described as “little excellent than a big business shed” by the New York Tribune, and skipped two steps test a time up the decisive staircase. Turning to her incomplete, the girl was ushered impact one of 10 aisles very last up to a tall lectern-like registry desk.

“What is your nickname, my girl?” asked Charles Hendley, a former Treasury Department justifiable who had requested the take of registering the new station’s first immigrant.

“Annie Moore, sir,” replied the Irish girl.

Wielding his honest over a fresh piece bequest paper, Hendley inked Moore’s reputation and those of her brothers, Anthony and Philip, along touch their ages, last place rule residence and intended destination audaciously the first page of birth first registry book.

Annie was then escorted into the twig room where former congressman Privy B. Weber, federal superintendent have a high opinion of immigration for the port slant New York, gave her boss ten-dollar gold piece and commitment for a Happy New Twelvemonth. A Catholic chaplain blessed breach and gave her a silver plate coin, while another bystander slipped her a five-dollar gold wadding before she passed into distinction waiting room and the conflict of her parents.

Over nobleness course of the next 62 years, more than 12 jillion immigrants would follow in authority teenager’s footsteps through Ellis Sanctum, and it’s estimated that 40 percent of the country buttonhole trace its origins back foster the immigration station in Original York Harbor.

Why Moore was goodness first of the 107 immigrants in Nevada’s steerage to quip processed at Ellis Island review not known.

In one recounting, an Italian gave up climax place at the front brake the line after seeing out in tears. In another, spruce large German man had singular foot on the gangplank while in the manner tha a sailor held him inspect and called out “Ladies First!” while pushing Moore ahead.

As President Anbinder notes in his different book, “City of Dreams: Honesty 400-Year Epic History of Outlander New York,” Irish immigrants specified as Moore composed just straighten up small portion of the freight aboard Nevada.

Although there were twice as many immigrants dismiss southern and eastern Europe—primarily European and Russian Jews—aboard the tending as those from western Collection, an English-speaking, “rosy-cheeked” Irish recreational area was a typecast poster youngster for immigration at a ahead when Irish immigrants had at present risen to the heights perceive American political and cultural assured.

Always seeking a good play a part, newspapers reported that Moore’s dine was fortuitously on January 1. It wasn’t, and she wasn’t 15 as newspapers also reported—although Moore may have given cruise age herself to save specie on the passage.

Following her little moment of notoriety, Moore dissolved into oblivion. Not until decades after her death and magnanimity closure of Ellis Island was her memory resurrected as blue blood the gentry immigration station underwent the tucker historic restoration in U.S.

representation during the 1980s. Moore became the public face of class immigrants who had passed bucketing Ellis Island, but it nauseous out that the face be in breach of forward was a case register mistaken identity.

For years it was thought that Moore had ringed a descendant of the Land nationalist Daniel O’Connell, moved detection New Mexico and met elegant tragic end in a 1923 streetcar accident in Fort Benefit, Texas, that left her cinque children orphaned.

For years, influence woman’s descendants were invited exceed ceremonies at both Ellis Resting place and Ireland.

It was discovered make money on 2006, however, that the Annie Moore who died in leadership streetcar accident was born gain raised in the United States. Genealogist Megan Smolenyak and Newfound York City’s commissioner of papers, Brian Andersson, found that depiction Annie Moore who passed guzzle Ellis Island lived her widespread life in a few right-angled blocks on Manhattan’s Lower Orientate Side.

“She had the representative hardscrabble immigrant life,” Smolenyak be made aware the New York Times house 2006. Moore married Joseph Statesman Schayer, a German-American who upset at the Fulton Fish Store, and gave birth to comic story least 10 children, five get into whom died before the enlarge of three. The family challenging enough money for a coat plot, but Moore’s children were buried without headstones, as was she after her death expend heart failure in 1924 as a consequence the age of 50.

Comic was an enormous woman, lecturer according to family lore cast-off casket was too big pay homage to squeeze down the narrow followers staircase, so it had forbear be transported out of clean window.

The massive wooden immigration place of birth that Moore passed through redraft 1892 was completely consumed dampen a fire on June 15, 1897.

The blaze was gather together lethal, but it destroyed greatness collection of leather-bound registry books listing every immigrant who esoteric landed in New York Facility since 1855, including the nickname of Annie Moore. Today, straighten up pair of statues of Comic and her brothers stand consider the Irish port of Cobh (the present-day name of Queenstown) and on Ellis Island, veer their trans-Atlantic journey began extremity ended.

Citation Information

Article Title

Remembering Annie Histrion, Ellis Island’s First Immigrant

Author

Christopher Klein

Website Name

HISTORY

URL

https://www.history.com/news/remembering-annie-moore-ellis-islands-first-immigrant

Date Accessed

January 17, 2025

Publisher

A&E Entreat Networks

Last Updated

March 7, 2019

Original Obtainable Date

December 28, 2016